June 19, 2019: Figure of victims of war is higher than estimated – Yemen, Iran and the US empire – WFP stops food aid at Sanaa – Houthis arresting women – Geopolitical frictions in Mahrah province – A visit at Socotra (in German) – Great Britain in he Yemen War – Mounting tensions in the Middle east, the US preparing war against Iran – and more

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

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ACLED PRESS RELEASE: YEMEN WAR DEATH TOLL EXCEEDS 90,000 ACCORDING TO NEW ACLED DATA FOR 2015

New data for 2015 bring the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen to more than 91,000 over the past four and a half years. For the first time, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is extending its Yemen coverage from the present back through 2015. These new data capture the beginning of the international intervention into the country’s civil war, with the launch of the joint military operation led by Saudi Arabia that March. Since 2015, the Saudi-led coalition and its allies are responsible for over 8,000 of the approximately 11,700 fatalities reported in connection with direct targeting of civilians in Yemen.

Commenting, ACLED Executive Director Clionadh Raleigh said: “Since the escalation of the conflict in 2015, Yemen has been devastated by war. ACLED’s data from 2015 now allow for a full analysis of the violence, providing an estimate of the war’s true toll for the first time. These data are both a tool and a warning: the international community must use them to help understand, monitor, and ultimately resolve the conflict before the situation spirals even further out of control.”

The Scale of the Conflict:

ACLED records over 91,600 total reported fatalities1 from the start of 2015 to the present

Approximately 17,100 were reported in 2015; 15,100 in 2016; 16,800 in 2017; 30,800 in 2018; and 11,900 in 2019 thus far

More than 39,700 conflict events have been reported since the start of 2015

Approximately 7,700 in 2015; 8,700 in 2016; 7,900 in 2017; 10,200 in 2018; and 4,900 in 2019 thus far

The Armed Conflict Location Eventa & Data (ACLED) Project released its latest findings on fatalities caused by the war on Yemen, and now that they have completed their assessment of all data from the first year of the war they conclude that more than 90,000 have been killed over the course of the last four years.

The death toll reported here does not account for preventable deaths caused by starvation and disease. As we know from other studies, even more Yemenis have died from these causes than have been killed by bombs and shells. The overall cost of the war is much higher than the 90,000+ figure reported by ACLED, and this new figure is significantly higher than previous casualty estimates. News stories frequently cited outdated numbers that dramatically understated how many had lost their lives because of the war. For years, the “official” death toll remained frozen at 10,000 years after it six or seven times as many people had been killed. Fortunately, that erroneous information has started to be replaced with more accurate assessments of the losses inflicted by the war.

Two-thirds of the civilian casualties included in this count were killed by Saudi coalition airstrikes

The U.S. shares in the responsibility for causing those thousands of civilian deaths through our government’s ongoing support for the war and the continued selling of U.S.-made weapons to Saudi coalition governments.

It's official: the Houthi rebels have announced the only reason they continue to fight in Yemen is due to Saudi reluctance to negotiate a peace deal. The United States has emboldened the kingdom’s war effort with indirect military aid and diplomatic backing since the conflict began in 2015.

You may not recall, but the only reason the US continues to stay involved in Yemen is, in the words of the New York Times, to "placate" the Saudis after Obama’s nuclear pact with Iran. In exchange for lifting US sanctions (which never happened), the deal put strict safeguards on the Islamic Republic’s civilian nuclear program and guaranteed it would never produce a bomb.

However, due to new US sanctions effectively preventing Iran from shipping off its excess uranium, the country was forced to either halt its nuclear program to abide by the nuclear deal’s 300kg cap on its uranium stockpile, or go forward and risk being penalized. Iran took option B,

To the US, the Houthis are a useful excuse to keep fighting in the region. Though both Iran’s theocracy and the Houthis practice forms of Shia Islam, Yemen’s rebels are NOT an evil Iranian proxy, and were even urged by Iran to not capture the capital city, Sanaa. Lest we forget, the initial rationale for America’s presence in Yemen, prior to Saudi’s war of annihilation, was to defeat al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Now, thanks to ongoing US aid to the Saudis, al-Qaeda continues to distinguish itself as one of the most capable military forces in Yemen

A war with Iran would be devastating to everyone involved, no matter who emerged the victor. The ends of winning would not justify the means of killing thousands on each side, including innocent civilians.

‘If only Iran didn't decide to put it's country next to our military bases, there wouldn't be a problem!’ Ironically, the only problems present are the "threats" John Bolton or any other adjacent authority can make up about the Iranian menace to US interests.

This, of course, is all related to the geopolitical interests of the US, Saudi and Israel, who constantly shill about fake aggression from Iranian "proxies" like Hamas, Hezbollah, or a fringe independent groups like the Houthis. The point is, Iran is not a threat. Hostile US policies heighten tensions and provoke Iran to act in its own self-defense.

Sources tell MEE that WFP took action after it claimed rebels were diverting aid and refusing to implement biometric system

After several months of disputes between Yemen's Houthi rebels and the World Food Programme (WFP), sources have told Middle East Eye that the UN agency has suspended its food assistance in the capital Sanaa.

The WFP has said that the Houthis do not allow the agency to operate independently and that aid is being diverted for profit and, or, for other purposes, so many beneficiaries are not receiving food assistance.

The agency also said the Houthis had rejected the implementation of a biometric identification system to help the delivery of aid.

However, an employee at the WFP in Sanaa told MEE: “The decision of first phase-suspension was already taken and we did not provide distribution centres in the capital with any food for this month.

“The suspension is taking place gradually, and every month we will suspend distribution in one governorate until we reach [an] agreement with the Houthis or suspend food assistance in all the Houthi-controlled governorates.”

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that management in Sanaa had warned employees to be cautious as there might be a reaction from the Houthis to the suspension, which he said was supposed to be announced to the public on Thursday.

MEE contacted some supervisors of food distribution centres in Sanaa and they confirmed that had not received any food this month from the WFP, adding that beneficiaries are worried about the news of the suspension.

The Houthis held an emergency meeting on Monday morning to discuss the first phase-suspension of food assistance.

Abdulwahab Sharaf Addin, the deputy head of the Technical Committee for Humanitarian Relief, said: “The decision to suspend the food assistance by the WFP will aggravate the lives of thousands of needy people

The WFP is in dispute with the Sanaa-based public authority,NAMCHA, which controls the list of beneficiaries, but sees the implementation of the biometric system using iris scanning, fingerprints or facial recognition as a threat to national security.

Earlier this month, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis' Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said the WFP's insistence on controlling the biometric data was in violation of Yemeni law.

“NAMCHA should control the list of beneficiaries as this is something relating to national security and we cannot provide any INGOs with such details,” a source in the NAMCHA told MEE.

'Aid diversion may happen to some extent everywhere'

Zohair al-Ma’amari, an aid worker in Sanaa, told MEE: “We need the WFP to increase its operations in Yemen as there are many needy people [that] do not receive assistance, but I was shocked to hear the news of the suspension.”

"I have been receiving monthly food baskets from WFP since early 2017 and we depend on that food," Alawi told MEE. "If not for that aid, we would die."

My comment: The arguments of NAMCHA are close to idiotic, and there can be little doubt on Houthi divresion of aid. – More (Beasley’s statement at the UN and Houthi reactions) at cp7.

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Scores of Yemeni women arrested by Houthis in 'political' anti-sex work campaign

Rebel authorities say they're cracking down on immorality, though others say the drive is an attempt to stifle the movement's opponents

Scores of women in Yemen are currently languishing in Houthi jails accused of prostitution, despite a longstanding taboo in the conservative country against women's detention.

Currently, there are thought to be 182 women in prisons run by the rebel group. Campaigners say the Houthis accused the women of engaging in sex work - but in reality, the arrests are political.

“There are 100 innocent Yemeni women inside three rooms in a Houthi prison in Sanaa," tweeted Ishraq al-Maqtari, a member of the National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights, a governmental institution.

“The Houthis arrested the women to pressure their families because of political and intellectual disagreements.”

Other than those held in Sanaa, there are 70 women imprisoned in north Yemen's Amran and 12 in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, according to Maqtari. She called on women's rights activists to extend their support to those women.

Though many families would rather not speak about the detentions, a few have started to discuss their situation on social media, pushing for their relatives' release.

While largely unscathed by conflict, being far from the battle lines, Yemen's eastern al-Mahra province still cannot escape the destabilising involvement of regional powers. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, are vying to shape the governorate's political and social dynamics.

The power struggle over Mahra represents a deeper fracturing of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which has already split after Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain blockaded Qatar.

Oman seeks to secure its Western border and prevent conflict erupting there.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE seek to further their own ambitions in Yemen, while transforming Mahra's political and social fabric.

Earlier in June, the Saudi air force targeted local tribal factions who were blocking and protesting weapons transfers to Saudi-backed tribes.

These are increasing efforts from Saudi Arabia to gain influence in Mahra. It previously dispatched thousands of troops to the Mahra-Oman border, particularly from March 2019 onwards.

Riyadh claimed that Iranian weapons and goods are being smuggled through Oman to support the Houthis, using this justification to taking control of the airport.

Yet Saudi Arabia has shown long-term interests in Mahra, with development projects via the state-owned Saudi Development and Reconstruction Programme for Yemen (SPRY).

t has allegedly tried to renovate water, education and transport sectors in Mahra. Any alleged improvements from its projects are unclear. Yet while presenting this as a humanitarian gesture, Riyadh uses it to justify a long-term presence in the country.

Saudi Arabia has meanwhile worked on constructing an oil pipeline through Mahra towards the Arabian Sea, to give its own exports an alternative transport route.

In the past decades, Saudi Arabia sponsored Salafism in places like Sadaa in the North.

Clearly it is doing the same in traditionally Sufi Mahra, to counteract other tribes to it and gain more favourable allies. This has triggered greater discord in Mahra too, due to anti-Salafi and anti-Saudi protests and sentiment.

The Emirati role risks further worsening tensions in Mahra Abu Dhabi has trained over 2,500 Mahari recruits, seeking to form a militia as it has done in other regions, and incorporate them into a unified Security Belt to forcibly control Yemen's south. It has tried to recruit leading Mahris into the secessionist movement the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

Oman naturally sees both GCC countries' presence as unjustified.

Though Riyadh and Abu Dhabi themselves have competing interests, they will prioritise scaling back Omani influence. As Oman is more favourable towards negotiating peace in Yemen, both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi who have interests in the war continuing will likely try to obstruct their influence further. However, such interference has attracted increasing opposition, particularly towards Saudi Arabia.

According to data from The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), protests in Mahra had soared to 37 from January 2018 – May 2019, most of which were aimed at the Saudi-led coalition – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

Socotra is hands-down one of the most epic places I've been to. On my recent trip to this Yemeni island with Welcome to Socotra, I spent an unforgettable 2 weeks camping, hiking, swimming and exploring.

‘The Saudis couldn’t do it without us’: the UK’s true role in Yemen’s deadly war

Britain does not merely supply the bombs that fall on Yemen – it provides the personnel and expertise that keep the war going. But is the government breaking the law?

And British weapons are doing much of the killing. Every day Yemen is hit by British bombs – dropped by British planes that are flown by British-trained pilots and maintained and prepared inside Saudi Arabia by thousands of British contractors.

Saudi Arabia has in effect contracted out vital parts of its war against Yemen’s Houthi movement to the US and the UK. Britain does not merely supply weapons for this war: it provides the personnel and expertise required to keep the war going. The British government has deployed RAF personnel to work as engineers, and to train Saudi pilots and targeteers – while an even larger role is played by BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest arms company.

On 27 March 2015, one day after the first bombs fell on Yemen, foreign secretary Philip Hammond told reporters that Britain would “support the Saudis in every practical way short of engaging in combat”. This would prove to be an understatement.

BAE and Raytheon production lines in Britain sped up to keep up with Saudi bombing.

The presence of British special forces in Yemen has not been officially acknowledged, but has become an open secret in defence circles. A senior British diplomatic source told me that the decision to approve military assistance to Saudi Arabia emerged from a meeting in London between British ministers and Bin Salman during his state visit to the UK in March 2018.

But the notion that Britain is a benign influence on the air war is betrayed by the stark fact that the rate of civilian attacks has risen throughout the war, according to a report analysing air-strike data, authored by Larry Lewis for a US government-backed thinktank and published in May. Other British officials with first-hand experience of Saudi military operations dismiss suggestions that our role on the ground in Saudi Arabia makes any difference.

“Bollocks” is how the former senior British official who worked in Saudi Arabia put it. “With MBS, our influence was gone. He was in a hurry, and surrounded himself by people who are not prepared to question his judgment.

“We Brits tend to pussyfoot around, despite having considerable leverage on the Saudis,” I was told by John Deverell, the former director of defence diplomacy at the MoD, who was defence attache to Saudi Arabia and Yemen between 2001 and 2003. Unless Britain is willing “to use the threat of pulling arms sales and personnel linked to the war in Yemen”, Deverell added, any gestures of concern will be ineffectual. “We are worried that if we do speak truth to power, we will endanger the commercial relationship.”

It is this commercial relationship that is keeping Britain firmly ensnared in the Yemen war. Its foundation is an multi-billion pound, government-to-government arms deal signed in 1985 called al-Yamamah.

It is this commercial relationship that is keeping Britain firmly ensnared in the Yemen war. Its foundation is an multi-billion pound, government-to-government arms deal signed in 1985 called al-Yamamah.

Under the terms of the deal, Saudi Arabia reimburses the British Ministry of Defence for the costs it incurs by paying BAE to arm and maintain the Saudi air force, plus a 2% fee for the time of civil servants administering the procurement.

During the early phases of the air war, the British government replied to critics of its involvement by explaining that it conducted investigations into allegations of Saudi attacks on civilians in Yemen. But in 2016 – citing “infelicities of expression” – the government reversed itself, and revisedearlier ministerial statements that said it did investigate. Instead, when pushed on the use of British weapons in alleged war crimes in Yemen, the government pointed out that the Saudi-led coalition investigates itself.

The contortions of the British government to obscure its involvement in the Yemen war are nothing short of acrobatic. The government has tethered Britain, its military and its economy to the richest nation in the Arab world as it brutalises the poorest. Saudi Arabia is estimated to have spent $60-70bn every year on its failing war, nearly four times the current GDP of Yemen, and enough money to have secured the livelihoods of a generation of Yemenis – by Arron Merat

Yemen’s Houthi movement and the United Nations have agreed on a mechanism to inspect ships docking at Hodeidah following the group’s withdrawal from three Red Sea ports under a U.N.-sponsored deal, a Houthi official and a U.N. source said.

“We agreed with the U.N. on a mechanism to inspect ships docking in the ports of Hodeidah and its implementation will start in the coming days,” Houthi transport minister Zakaria Shami was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the group’s Al Masirah TV.

A United Nations source confirmed that an agreement has been reached with U.N. inspection body, the Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM). UNVIM still needs to sign a separate agreement with the Saudi-led military coalition that monitors ships on the high seas heading to Yemen

Minister of Transport in the National Salvation Government, Zakaria Al-Shami, revealed that an inspection mechanism has been agreed in the ports of Hodeidah and will be implemented within the next few days under the United Nation supervision.

Presiding over a meeting of the Red Sea Ports Corporation on Tuesday, the minister called on the United Nations to oblige the other party to implement its obligations and the terms of the Stockholm Agreement.

Five civilians of a family killed and injured by Houthi mortar shells in Hodeida

Local sources said that random mortar shells fired by the Houthi militia targeted a civilian house near which a number of civilians were gathered fetching drinking water from a reservoir in a neighborhood of the town.

As result one woman was killed and four other civilians were critically injured among them 4-year-old girl and 25-year-old disabled boy, the source added.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen - New York, 17 June 2019

Today I want to step back and consider the time loop we seem to be experiencing in Yemen. How has this war evolved in the last four or five years? What has it wrought? What can we expect if it continues? What are we doing about it? And what is needed to help Yemen break this cycle for good?

Let me begin with the nature of the war.

From the start, it has been brutal. One independent monitoring group, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (or ACLED), estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed since 2016.

Violence has also been remarkably consistent. Fighting may decrease in one area – as we’ve seen recently in Hudaydah with the Stockholm Agreement – only to mushroom elsewhere, as we’re seeing right now in Al Dhale’e, Hajjah and Taizz.

Today there are more than 30 active front lines in Yemen – more than enough to absorb fighters redeploying from quieter areas. In fact, ACLED data indicates that conflict incidents across the country have been mostly increasing since 2016.

Yemen is getting more violent, not less. The conflict is getting worse, not better

More than one million barrels of oil may spill across Red Sea leading to 'disaster on the environment', says UN aid chief

The United Nations has warned that a "decaying" oil tanker moored 60 km north of Yemen's port city of Hodeidah threatens to spill more than one million barrels of oil into the Red Sea.

UN aid chief Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council on Monday that he was working with the Houthi rebel forces to access the deteriorating tanker and take steps to avert a crisis that could be worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill of the late 1980s.

"If the tanker ruptures or explodes, we could see the coastline polluted all along the Red Sea," Lowcock, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said.

"Depending on the time of year and water currents, the spill could reach from Bab el Mandeb to the Suez Canal, and potentially as far as the Strait of Hormuz," he added.

Spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree warned that the country's attacks on the three airports of Abha, Jazzan and Najran will continue, vowing that they would remain insecure.

"Abha, Jazzan and Najran airports have turned into insecure airports and they will be targeted on a regular basis because these airports are used for military attacks, including continued attacks and cruel siege on the Yemeni nation,"

The al-Houthi group in Yemen, which is under its control, announced that Saba agency is being hacked by hostile authorities and has published false news of a meeting of the President of the Supreme Political Council (Houthi president) Mahdi al-Mashat.

Earlier in the day, Saba published a summary of the interview of Mahdi al-Mashat with Al-Massira TV, in which al-Houthi leader threatened to bombard the oil sites in the Gulf and to target ships and oil tankers in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea as legitimate targets for their missile and drones.

but the Minister of information in the Government of the Houthis (unrecognized) denied the statements made by Mahdi al-Mashat, accusing the "countries of aggression " of hacking the website of Saba and publishing and fabricating false news, "does not relate to the truth for a few minutes ".

Member of Yemeni Supreme Political Council, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, considered the statements of the Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, as a clear indication of rejecting the peace in Yemen and the continuation of the aggression in Yemen.

Bin Salman: We will not accept the presence of militias outside the state institutions in Yemen

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom could not accept the presence of militias in Yemen outside state institutions and on the borders of his country.

"The kingdom will not accept the continuation of the militias and their stay outside the state institutions, and in pursuit of this ultimate goal, we will continue our operations and support the Yemeni people in their quest to protect their independence and sovereignty, no matter what the sacrifices," Bin Salman said in an interview with the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

My comment: Obviously, this is up to Yemenis and not to the Saudis. – And: He of course refers only to the “Houthis” when speaking of “militia”. But, a great part of those fighting on behalf of the Houthi (Sanaa) government are the regular Yemeni army, while a great part of those fighting against the Houthis are various militia.

The human rights office in Ta'izz confirmed in an official statistic—Al-Masdar online obtained a copy--the death of 2720 civilians, the wounding of 13494 civilians, and the majority of the victims are children and women

My comment: This is by the Hadi government. And how many had been killed by anti-Houthi fighters and militia and air raids? If you ask at this office, they might tell you: 0??

(B P)

All don't want war with Iran but will continue war on #Yemen. Another irony is that all say they don't want Iran-backed militias but are continuing to support UAE-backed militias here. And you see a US dope jump into your timeline to say the STC is great.

My coment: Well, what should this claim mean? Should this vessel have been blocked? How can be claimed that there should not be imported fuel to satisfy the needs of Northern Yemen?

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1, cp2, cp7.

(B H)

praise be to Allah, on the first day of our trip we distributed food bskts to 18 poor families and orphans in two remote villages. Thank you so much to all our donors, There's still a lot of aid we'll share with you tomorrow. support us via link http://www.gofundme.com/food-and-medicine-for-yemen … photos)

In western Yemen’s Saada governorate, aerial bombardments are a deadly fact of life.

"Every day at the hospital in Haydan, we give free health care to children, to mothers in labor, and we also have an Emergency Room," said MSF doctor Roberto Scaini.

Here, residents of Saada share their stories of life under the airstrikes.

Ayman stands outside the remains of his home in Saada city. Twenty-eight members of his family died when the house was bombed by an SELC-led airstrike in 2015. He was one of only three survivors. He remembers the screams from beneath the rubble, and that he could do nothing to help. His brother, who owned a barber shop, was among those killed in the bombing. Since then, Ayman has managed the shop. This is his first time visiting the site since the bombing occurred.

Film: Yemenis are amazing! This man shares his story of building a business to grow vegetables in Yemen. It has English subtitles. Quite amazing and inspiring - please watch to understand how special Yemen and Yemenis are.

Torrential rains and widespread flooding across 12 governorates in Yemen in recent weeks have affected tens of thousands of people, leaving many in urgent need of emergency assistance.

Humanitarian assessments are ongoing, but preliminary reports from local authorities indicate that more than 80,000 people have been impacted. Initial reports are that the floods have also claimed at least three lives, but the full extent of casualties is still not known.

Hajjah governorate in north-west Yemen, which is host to many internally displaced people (IDPs) is among the worst affected, with more than 50,000 people reported to be in need of help.

Many are people living in emergency shelters and informal settlements. Their tents and tarpaulins have been damaged by rains, exposing them to homelessness and associated protection risks, including risks related to the lack of privacy and potential exploitation and abuse.

The death sentence trial of a Yemeni Baha'i leader, who was due to appear in court on Sunday, has been postponed until next month, a spokesperson for the religious group said.

Hamed bin Haydara was expected to appear in a Houthi criminal court in Sanaa on Sunday. The Baha'i leader was sentenced to death in January last year for espionage and apostasy, charges that were filed against him in 2015.

Al Zubaidi to the American Delgation : Our future State Will be a Democratic One

President of the Southern Transitional Council Major Aidros Qasem Al Zubaidi met on Tuesday at the STC's headquarters in Tawahi -Aden, a delegation from the United States of America.

Mr Gerald M Feierstein the former USA’s Ambassador to Yemen chaired the American delegation, which comprised a number of American Academics researchers, experts in the Middle East issues as well lectures from different research and strategy institutions.

Major General Al Zubaidi : "The next Southern state will be a democratic civil state. The American people and leadership will be a serious partner to maintaining security, stability and combat terrorism in the region" he said.

Governor of Abyan, Major General Abu Bakr Hussein has broken his silence by accusing the Yemeni government of deliberately killing people by electricity outage. The governor said in a vlog circulated by activists on social media platforms that for four years, the government failed to provide electricity to the people in Abyan, affirming that the people are angry and will take to streets in protests against it.

My comment: Southern separatists try to overtake the state institutions in the South. – Now, a coup is starting? News:

(A P)

The President directs the security and military forces in the liberated areas to raise readiness and alert

The president's directives and his contact with Al-Maysari come amid reports of military moves to the security and military formations of the Southern Transitional council , loyal to the UAE, and a coup plot.

Armed clashes flared Tuesday between security forces and a militia backed by the United Arab Emirates in the province of Socotra, following an attack on one of the island’ ports.

A security source said that the belt forces backed by the United Arab Emirates tried to storm the port and fired bullets at the Coast Guard forces stationed in the port, which led to violent confrontations.

Three members of the government forces were injured in clashes Monday morning with the Shabwani elite forces of the Transitional Council, backed by the United Arab Emirates in the area of Almarwaha in the Directorate of Jardan northwest of Shabwa. Armed militias of the “elite” had stationed in the Al-Marwaha area of the Jardan district in an attempt to control the oil pipeline, a source said.

Details Of Last Hours In Aden: KSA Warns UAE Of Any Military Coup Against Hadi

Informed sources in the interim capital of Aden revealed details of the last moments to stop a coup against President Hadi.

According to sources, Saudi officials have warned the leadership of the transitional – through UAE officials – of any military action in Aden under any pretext, stressing that any actions will be dealt with force. The sources said that Abu Dhabi succumbed to pressures from Riyadh and informed the leadership of the transitional to stop any military movement in Aden and to withdraw the military vehicles and armors from the streets.

The stern threat was preceded by a meeting between US and Saudi ambassadors to President Hadi to show their country’s full support for the president against any possible rebellion in Aden.

Riyadh has also instructed military leaders in the giants’ brigades fighting on the west coast to return to Aden to intervene against the transitional forces if necessary.

Angry citizens took to the streets of the coastal district of Qalansiyah in Socotra archipelago on Monday, in protest against Islah-linked officials within the legitimate government.

The protestors prevented the governor of Socotra, Ramzi Mahrous and the minister of fisheries Fahd Kafayn from entering the government complex in Qalansiyah in protest against mismanagement and halting development projects.

UAE-backed forces intercept military commander's convoy and prevent him from entering the city of Ataq

A local source told "Al-Masdar online " that the elite forces of al- Shabwaniyah, supported by the UAE, stopped the commander of the axis of Ataq,Aziz al-'ateqi at the point of Al-Bayadh, and prevented him from passing after returning from a security mission in the fan area.

Jabbari accused the coalition of obstructing the return of the president and stopping the liberation process

Abdul Aziz Jabbari, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives said that the Arab coalition is impeding the return of legality and the President of the Republic to the liberated areas in southern Yemen,

In an interview on the Suhail satellite channel, Jabbari added that state officials and the leadership of legitimacy are feeling the pain and anguish of the status quo, referring to the Presidency and the government letters to the Arab coalition regarding the status quo and the obstacles impeding the return of legality to Yemen.

My comment: The Hadi government is a puppet. Sometimes, Hadi officials seem to be frustrated.

(* B P)

Camp 20 in Aden a center of violations and torture.. Ammar Sultan is not the last victim

Five years ago, the camp “20” was a camp for the Central Security forces and a security monitoring base in the city of Crater, and over time the camp became a detention centre for activists of the southern peaceful movement and activists opposed Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime were active in the city.

the situation remains unchanged from what it was during the reign of Saleh's regime, where Imam al-Nubi from the security belt is now in control of the city.

Camp 20 detention and torture center

According to two security sources and a private source, Sultan is not the first to be subjected to torture in camp 20, as three activists and two journalists were tortured in 2017 and discharged from the camp, and their bodies were severely tortured.

The killing of Cheb Ammar Sultan in a cell in Camp 20 is a reminder of the parallel role of the State, which is exercised by the coalition-backed local forces in Aden. The latter now owns the city camps and has secret jails and prisons, and performs tasks that do not count in its field of work and competence. This led to the decline of the official security forces involvement.

The killing of Cheb Ammar Sultan is an affirmation that the local forces supported by the UAE are becoming stronger from their position on the security scene

According to the source, many defendants with unresolved cases have not been "determined" that they are being tortured in detention camps inside camp 20 illegally without any investigation, but the issue of detention does not stop only at the defendants, the security forces in Camp 20 arrested some community activists and young intellectuals and members of the camp severely tortured them.

Commander of the Yemeni 4th Brigade, Mehran Al-Qubati, revealed that the United Arab Emirates security forces are planning an imminent coup in Aden against President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

“The Yemeni interior minister has instructed the legitimate government forces to be prepared to confront a possible UAE coup,” Al-Qubati said in a recorded message published on Saturday night.

“The Emirati plan aims to control the presidential protection brigades, the presidential palace and the central bank,” he said, adding that “the Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s main aim is to control the 4th Brigade, then storm the presidential palace in Maasheq.”

Yemen’s Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper also reported that the security belt forces have spread in Aden’s main thoroughfares.

A SOUTHERN LEADER REVEALS UNPRECEDENTED ARMAMENT AND MOBILIZATION IN ADEN

A leader of the southern movement, Abdulkarim al-Saadi, warned from the outbreak of war led by multiple parties and on more fierce regional basis in the southern provinces.

In on his Facebook account, al-Saadi revealed that Aden is witnessing arming and a situation of mobilization and unprecedented preparations that are based on regional and tribal bases, which would lead to a new phase of conflict leading the province to the unknown.

“This war will be led by regional-backed forces whose first task will begin to topple the legitimate government,” he said.

Commander of the First Brigade Support and Isnaad, Brigadier General Mounir Mahmoud Yafei known as ‘Abu al-Yamama’, commented on the military operations and armament which the legitimate authorities carried out in the capital Aden. Al Yafei stressed that the Southern Resistance Forces the Security Belt Brigades and Support Forces, will not be dragged into a South-South conflict. “We will continue to protect the National project of the southern Popular Will in self-determination and restoration of the state.’ He said to Alayyam Newspaper

Briefing members on political and humanitarian developments, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) all underscored the direct impacts of the conflict on the 24 million people needing protection.

The Special Envoy reported that parties in Hodeidah have sustained the reduction in violence in the six months since the Stockholm Agreement entered into force, while the number of casualties also fell by 68 per cent in the following five months. Despite this progress, however, the military and political situation remains extremely fragile and he urged parties to take the necessary next steps to ensure the full implementation of the accord.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator, noting that 70,000 people have been killed in Yemen since 2016, said fighting in this year alone has displaced 250,000 people; the number of incidents killing or injuring children more than tripled. But, the conflict itself has led to relatively few major shifts in control. Most Yemenis still live in areas controlled by Ansar Allah and their allies. “The war is not only brutal, it is unwinnable,”

The World Food Programme Executive Director expressed alarm that food is being diverted in areas controlled by Ansar Allah. While WFP feeds more than 10 million people a month, “I cannot assure you that all the assistance is going to those who need it the most”, he said. Would-be beneficiaries in Sana’a reported not having received any food, even though the distribution list contained their thumbprints, as if they had. “Who took their food?”, he asked, recalling that he has requested authorities to honour their agreements.

In the ensuing discussion, Council members condemned actions that block humanitarian aid,

Council members also condemned the violence and urged parties to recommit to political agreements.

The Russian Federation’s delegate meanwhile cautioned that artificial anti‑Iranian sentiment could undermine collective diplomacy and derail gains made in Yemen. Emergency humanitarian assistance must be provided to the Yemeni population no matter who controls their territory, he stressed, adding that such efforts “cannot be a panacea”.

Yemen’s representative said his Government has already demonstrated flexibility and commitment

BRIEFING OF THE UN SPECIAL ENVOY OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR YEMEN TO THE OPEN SESSION OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

With this Council’s steadfast support, I have continued to work with both the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah on the implementation of the Stockholm agreement and the way forward to a comprehensive political solution to the conflict based on the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the National Dialogue Conference outcomes and all relevant Security Council resolutions including in particular 2216.

In Hudaydah, the parties have sustained the reduction in violence across the governorate for the six full months since the agreement entered into force in the middle of last December. This has continued despite the delays in the implementation of the agreement due to a number of challenges and the frustrations we have all experienced associated with those challenges.

The Redeployment Coordination Committee set up by that agreement and their members from both parties have continued to engage constructively with my colleague General Michael Lollesgaard on the plans for the first and second phases of the redeployments during the past months.

Yemeni children ‘dying right now’ due to food aid diversions Beasley warns Security Council

Food continues to be taken “from the mouths of hungry little boys and little girls” in many areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, warned the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday, who said the agency would be forced to suspend some food assistance within days, unless agreements are finally honoured.

“We continue to face fierce resistance to simply just doing our job to keep people alive”, said Mr. Beasley bluntly, noting that it was 18 months ago when WFP first uncovered “serious evidence that some food was going to the wrong people”.

With more than 10 million each month relying on the agency, “I cannot assure you that all the assistance is going to those who need it most” he told Council members.

Although agreements had been signed with some authorities in the key city of Sana’a, new roadblocks had routinely appeared. “Honour the agreements you have signed”, he urged Houthi leaders. “If we do not receive these assurances, then we will begin a phased suspension of food assistance, most likely towards the end of the week.”

Mr. Beasley said the agency would continue its nutrition programme for malnourished children, pregnant women and new mothers, and keep pushing for an agreement. Without it, he they would have to expand it to other areas where the risk of diversion was high.

“Let me be crystal clear; children are dying right now because of this”, he said adding that there were some Houthi leaders who wanted to do the right thing. “But like in every war, there are those who stand to make a profit and they will do everything to obstruct and delay…no one associated with the United Nations should stand idly by while this happens.”

“I am begging all of those concerned to do all within your power to let us do what we do…save lives”, the WFP chief concluded.

The World Food Organization (WFP) is covering up rotten food with a war of statements led by its American director, the well-known for his religious tendency, Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi member of the Supreme Political Council said on Monday.

Al-Houthi said the WFP remarks were influenced by the Pompeo policy, known for his relentless defense of the continued sale of arms deals that are killing Yemenis.

The head of the Negotiating Delegation, Mohamed Abdelsalam, said that "there is no objection to the work of the organizations in Yemen, provided that its work is humanitarian, free from political exploitation, security recruitment and collecting information and data for the benefit of the countries of aggression“.

Yemen’s National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Recovery (NAMCHA) has accused the World Food Programme (WFP) of corruption and exploitation of the suffering of the Yemeni people, arguing that the world body is apparently making use of a biometric system in aid distribution for intelligence purposes.

Ambassador Jonathan Cohen, Acting Permanent Representative, U.S. Mission to the United Nations

The United States acknowledges the tragedy of this man-made crisis in Yemen, which continues to deteriorate as the conflict continues for a fifth year.

We strongly condemn the reported Houthi missile attack on Abha Airport on June 12, which injured numerous innocent civilians. The Houthis need to implement the commitments they made in Sweden instead of launching such attacks. As we repeatedly hear in this Council, there is no military solution to this conflict.

The Houthis must demonstrate good faith in the political process and cease UAV and other attacks against their fellow citizens and their neighbors. Iran needs to stop supplying the Houthis with the weapons to do so.

Permanent Representative of Yemen to United Nations: The government calls on the Security Council to take all measures against Houthi militias and supporting forces

The Yemeni government confirmed that the continuation of the Houthi terrorist militias targeting civilian installations in Saudi Arabia and the international maritime corridors, with the support and guidance of the Iranian regime, reflects the extent of the danger posed by these coup militias.

Peaceful solutions are direly needed in Yemen as the Civil War stretches into its fifth year.

A more holistic approach is needed to address both the internal and external factors that are preventing peace. Internally, both sides have much to gain by not finding a political solution.

one of the preliminary demands of Resolution 2216 – the call for the complete disarmament of the Houthis – an unviable proposition, as it would mean them giving up anything they might leverage during talks.

Issuing a resolution so determined to have Yemen’s government succeed reflects the biased role of the UN as a mediator. Firstly, the Yemeni model — comprised of a rapid transition, national dialogue, and constitutional drafting process — was regarded as a template for the post–Arab Spring Middle East and so its failure considered detrimental to wider peace-building efforts. Secondly, UN member states remain strongly against state fragmentation, and fear the Houthis and other groups breaking away from Yemen’s government. In turn, UN backing has provided Hadi with an impetus to renege on negotiations, avoiding any deal that would mean his removal from power or the sharing of power in a unity government with the Houthis.

The UNSC’s Resolution 2216 must be revised to reflect the changed situation in the country and the region since it was adopted in 2015.

However, the notion that a political agreement can be found between only the two main factions – the Hadi government and the Houthis – is too simplistic and only represents the politics and divisions within the northern Yemeni elite fighting for power. It ignores the multitude of local non-state actors involved in the war.

The role of external actors impeding peace also needs to be considered.

It can no longer justifiably be thought of as a Yemeni-Yemeni war. As a major player in the conflict, future talks and agreements on a peaceful political solution must include Saudi Arabia, or otherwise ensure the country’s continued aggression.

Additionally, the positions taken by Western countries have slowed progress towards peace. The U.K. and U.S. particularly have backed the coalition through billions of dollars in arms sales – by Marco Stojanovik

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) holds a meeting on the situation in Yemen at its headquarters in New York City on Monday, June 17, in which it will be briefed by the Special Envoy Martin Griffiths via video-teleconference.

Letter dated 10 June 2019 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council - UNMHA deployment and operation

By its resolution 2452 (2019), the Security Council requested me to present a review of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) within five months of the date of adoption of that resolution.

Six months since the United Nations-brokered Stockholm Agreement between the Government of Yemen and the Houthi movement, and five months since the adoption of resolution 2452 (2019), the situation in Hudaydah continues to remain a focus of developments in Yemen.

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

Who is Prince Khalid bin Salman? A War Criminal, Killing the Yemeni People

We say to Prince Khalid Bin Salman, Deputy Minister of Defense of the State of Aggression

My remark: By Houthi news site.

(A P)

.@Twitter suspension of refugee sisters @DuaDalal is a clear violation of their himan rights & place them at greater risk of being harmed & shutters their ability to find a safe country. This is an example of bigoted view of “them” by American tech companies

I have a lot going on, but I'm down. Early Monday morning and the @DuaDalal account is suspended yet again. Completely unconscionable on @Twitter's part. In 2018 Twitter had a *42%* profit margin on $3 billion in revenue. Yet they can't stop shutting down two refugee women.

My comment: Finally, after a long fight, Twitter seems to have reopened the account. But most of the single tweets still are blocked. For this whole story, shame on Twitter. Here now:

(A P)

I'm Dua and my sister Dalal have fled from Saudi Arabia to Turkey. My father wanted to marry us to old men and religious militants. We were beaten and harassed. We were threatened with imprisonment in the Women's Welfare Center (images)

Saudi Arabia May Execute Teenager for His Protests — Including When He Was 10

Supporters of MBS often try and argue that these executions are the product of decisions made in court, not in the royal palace. This is a laughable defense. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is no independent judiciary.

FIFA wants Saudi-backed satellite broadcaster Arabsat to stop transmitting pirated feeds of Women's World Cup games from a Qatari network, part of an ongoing sports television rights dispute linked to the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

How to Preserve Domestic Security:Te Treat of Islamist Groups, by Sara Brzuszkiewicz

US - Saudi Relations in the New World of Trump and Mohammad bin Salman, by Robert Jordan

Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Horn of Africa:Stabilisers or Disrupters, by Annalisa Perteghella

Conclusions and Policy Recommendations for the EU

The Authors

Introduction

Given its economic strength, its strategic weight in the Gulfand the MENA region, and its role as the world’s biggest oilexporter, Saudi Arabia has never been far removed from theinternational spotlight. Until recently, however, the kingdom’sleadership has often attempted to shape foreign aﬀairs in theregion and beyond in a far less ﬂashy way than it appears tobe doing today. Te recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi and itsattempted cover-up are just the latest evidence of how muchSaudi Arabia has changed: for better or for worse, the countrycannot avoid the international spotlight anymore.

Over the past few decades, Saudi Arabia has painted itselfas a staunch ally of the United States, and of the West moregenerally, despite frictions over how to deal with Israel andthe kingdom’s stance on political rights and civil liberties (for women, in particular). In addition, the conservative positionsof the Saudi leadership even made some Western governmentsconsider the country an island of stability against “too muchchange” in a strategic, yet unstable, region.

Despite all that holds true to this day, the way in which Saudi Arabia acts on the international stage started to change a few years ago, with Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) becoming the de facto ruler of the country.

What is sure, in any case, is that there is a growing need to investigate the choices of the new Saudi leadership, and of Mohammad bin Salman in particular, studying how they are working in practice.

cp8a Jamal Khashoggi

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called on any party 'exploiting case' to present evidence, in veiled attack on Turkey.

"The death of Jamal Khashoggi is a very painful crime," MBS told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in an interview published on Sunday.

He said "those accused of carrying out the crime are government officials" and the kingdom is seeking to "achieve full justice and accountability, without getting distracted by positions taken by some for their own domestic considerations that are known to everyone".

"Any party exploiting the case politically should stop doing so, and present evidence to the [Saudi] court, which will contribute in achieving justice," he added, without directly naming Turkey.

cp9 USA

Siehe / Look at cp1, cp19a, cp19b

(* B KP)

Film by Bernie Sanders: End Support for the War in Yemen

When the people of Yemen see “Made in USA” on the bombs that are destroying their country, it tells them that the U.S.A. is to blame. It is time for the U.S. to end our support for this unauthorized, unconstitutional, and disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Downing of US MQ-9 Drone Over Hodeida Shows Direct US Involvement in Yemeni War

Yemen’s Houthi-allied military has made significant strides in its air-defense sector and has become a real threat to Saudi-led Coalition and U.S. operations over Yemen.

News that a U.S. government drone was shot down over Yemen’s port city of Hodeida has provoked anger among local residents, who say it is clear evidence of direct U.S. involvement in a war which has resulted in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, and has left almost 25 million people in need of aid.

U.S. officials attempted to link the attack on a U.S. drone on Yemen’s coast to the downing of the MQ-9 on June 13, as the unmanned surveillance aircraft was said to be flying over one of two crippled oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia claim were also targeted by Iran. High-ranking Yemeni officials strongly reject this link, but also assert that they will not hesitate to accept any help to defend their country.

The CENTCOM statement confirmed reporting by MintPress that the Yemeni army, loyal to the Houthis, shot down a U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper in al-Jabaliyah on the country’s west coast.

Yemen’s Houthi movement called Brown’s statement an avowal of U.S. participation in the war. Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the Houthis, said: “The U.S. military admitting the downing of the reconnaissance drone on Yemen’s west coast proves that the aggression carries a U.S.-Zionist agenda.”

Large drones, like the MQ-9 Reaper, are usually shot down with modified air-to-air missiles, such as the Soviet-made and infrared-guided R-27T. However, the MQ-9 shot down over Hodeida was downed by an advanced air-defense system colloquially dubbed the “Barg” thunderbolt, which is a modified SA-6 surface-to-air missile, according to a Yemeni military source

Kushner Personally Interferes, Tells MBS: “This Is Not the Time for Executions”

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son in law and senior adviser, reportedly intervened personally in an attempt to stop Saudi Arabia embarking on a new wave of executions.

According to MEE’s sources, Kushner raised these cases with Mohammed bin Salman, warning that a new wave of executions would damage Riyadh’s image in the US Congress at a time when the White House “was trying to assemble support for action against Iran.”

A United States senator has started the legislative process to block President Donald Trump's move to sell more than $8bn in military equipment to Saudi Arabia over its destructive role in Yemen.

Bob Menendez, a Democrat from the state of New Jersey, called on Tuesday for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to pass a bipartisan resolution that officially puts Congress on record as disapproving of the White House's decision.

On the Senate floor, Menendez called for the committee to discharge the resolution and requested "that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration".

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a U.S. list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts’ findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using under-age fighters in Yemen’s civil war, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The decision, which drew immediate criticism from human rights activists and a top Democratic lawmaker, could prompt new accusations that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is prioritizing security and economic interests in relations with oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally and arms customer.

State Department experts recommended adding Saudi Arabia to the soon-to-be released list based in part on news reports and human rights groups’ assessments that the desert kingdom has hired child fighters from Sudan to fight for the U.S.-backed coalition in Yemen.

Pompeo has made a habit of overruling State Department experts when their recommendations don’t line up with the administration’s preference for giving the Saudis whatever they want.

There is no good reason to keep Saudi Arabia off the list of countries that engage in this awful practice, and so we are left to assume that Pompeo is doing it as a favor to a despotic regime because it happens to buy a lot of U.S.-made weapons.

Pompeo’s decision to overrule his experts again is the latest example of how he puts indulging our despotic clients ahead of any other consideration. The evidence that the Saudi coalition makes extensive use of Sudanese recruits is not in doubt.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S devotion to his relationship with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, evidently exceeds his respect for Congress and the laws it passes.

Congress now has an opportunity to demonstrate that it will not allow the president to trample on its prerogatives to appease a murderous Arab strongman. The Senate is expected to vote this week on a number of resolutions disapproving the arms sales, and similar legislation is pending in the House

The administration claims it is justified in using emergency authority to advance the sales because of rising tensions with Iran — a crisis largely of its own making. But as the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul (Tex.), pointed out, some of the materiel will not be ready for delivery for more than a year, meaning the sales are not relevant to the current situation in the Persian Gulf or in Yemen.

That’s why, in addition to voting against the current sales, Congress should act on proposals to amend the Arms Export Control Act to prevent future abuses by Mr. Trump – by Editorial Board

At the very least, the U.S. should have as little to do with this government as possible. It would be even better if the U.S. called out heinous Saudi abuses the same as it criticizes the abuses of any authoritarian regime. Instead of providing cover for an increasingly repressive despotic government, our government should be doing all it can to distance itself from Saudi Arabia while calling attention to the Saudi regime’s outrageous abuses and murders of prisoners. Failing that, the U.S. should use what influence it still has with Riyadh to intercede on behalf of these political prisoners who are obviously being railroaded because of their criticism of the government.

The argument goes that we must arm anyone who is not Iran. We are told that because of Iran’s threat the U.S. must accept selling arms to anyone who opposes Iran, even bone-saw-wielding countries brazen enough to kill a dissident in a foreign consulate. It doesn’t matter how you act, how you behave, or who you kill, we’ll still give you arms. What would happen if we just said no? What would happen if we simply conditioned our arms sales on behavior? Are the Saudis so weak that Iran will run over them and run over the whole Middle East without our arms? Of course not! The Saudis now spend more on their military than the Russians.

What are the Saudis doing with all the weapons we give them? Well, for one, they’re bombing civilians in Yemen.

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A P)

Judgement due in legal battle over UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The Court of Appeal is due to give its judgment at 10am on Thursday 20 June 2019 in a legal battle by campaigners to challenge the UK Government’s decision to grant licences for the export of arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) appealed against a judgment by the High Court on 10 July 2017 which ruled that the granting of licences for the export of arms from the UK to Saudi Arabia is lawful

"I asked the official how his own department – the Export Control Joint Unit – had issued blanket approvals for arms exports used in Yemen. 'I don’t know...I’m doing what I’m told and doing my job, but I’m uncomfortably aware that Adolf Eichmann said the same thing.'"

The CAAT was permitted an appeal against the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as they argued that the UK must end its armament trading relationship with Saudi Arabia because exported military arms equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in Yemen in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

There are two significant remarks that have to be made about this appeal. Firstly, it has to be stressed that this case regards a legal question. Whether the political views of the CAAT are justified is a question for the public to debate but not for the court to answer in this case. The court will solely determine if ‘there was a clear risk that items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law’ when the UK sold weapons to Saudi Arabia

Secondly, this case would alter the UK’s trading relationship with Saudi Arabia and with any nation of a similar public profile.

A legal challenge over UK arms sales to Yemen combatants could put further pressure on Australia’s defence exports.

In the UK, the NGO Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) is pursuing litigation to try to force the British government to stop permitting arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Of the various actions taking place globally, the UK litigation holds most significance for Australia. Our common law system was inherited from the British. We share similar values of respect for human rights and the rule of law. Could the UK litigation be a blueprint for similar moves here?

First, one must understand – somewhat paradoxically – that CAAT’s argument was supported by persuasive evidence which the Court did not find to be lacking in credibility or reliability. This included evidence from UN agencies and NGOs of repeated international humanitarian law violations by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. CAAT submitted that this evidence not only suggests but dictates the conclusion that there is a “clear risk” that weapons exported to Saudi Arabia might be used to commit violations in Yemen.

Dubai Has Become A "Money Laundering Paradise" Says Anti-Corruption Group

In its latest Corruption Perceptions Index, anti-graft campaigning group Transparency International says that “Dubai has become an active global hub for money laundering … where the corrupt and other criminals can go to buy luxurious property with no restrictions.”

Citing investigations last year by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), Transparency International said that real estate worth millions of pounds can be bought in Dubai in exchange for cash with few questions ever asked.

cp12a Sudan

Sudan's Political Turmoil Creates Window of Opportunity for Washington

America can work to stymie Sudanese military support for the war effort in Yemen by helping to improve economic conditions in Sudan.

By helping to ensure a smooth transition of power, the United States can work to stymie Sudanese military support for the war effort in Yemen by helping to improve economic conditions in Sudan. If the United States does not step in early to contain the situation, then there is a heightened threat that the lack of regime stability could engender increased terrorism by creating a power vacuum in a region that is already suffering from a proliferation of terrorist groups in places such as Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.

Regional actors such as the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC, have sided with Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the military transitional council.

A Sudanese opposition delegation visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last April in the wake of the fall of the al-Bashir regime to discuss peace in Sudan and other issues of mutual interest, such as political Islam and the war in Yemen, said Yasir Arman, deputy head of the SPLM-N Agar.

He said that the talks with the UAE officials tackled the role that the Gulf country can play to bring stability in Sudan, adding they stressed the need for a comprehensive peace in Sudan during the transitional period.

In addition, the discussions touched the political Islam, which is seen as a national security matter in Abu Dhabi, the war in Yemen where Sudanese troops are participating in the Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels and UAE’s economic investments in Sudan.

Regarding the war in Yemen and the contested participation of the Sudanese army, Arman said they indicated that the troops’ withdrawal from Yemen is a complicated issue that requires more time.

cp13 Wirtschaft / Economy

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

(A T)

It is now a year since rivalry between #alQaeda & #IslamicState in #Yemen erupted into a blood feud. Both groups continue to focus primarily on killing each other, rather than Houthis, Yemen army or Saudi-led coalition. Latest: #ISIS-Y claims it killed 1 #AQAP by sniper yday

cp15 Propaganda

Minister of Information Muamer al-Iryan blamed Iran-allied Houthi militias for disrupting political transition in Yemen, refusing to be engaged in national unity government.

He said ” The government tried to engage Houthis in the political process through the National Dialogue and national unity government, but these militias refused, went on carrying out its sectarian scheme backed by Iran’.

The United States and Yemen have affirmed their commitment to restoring legitimate state institutions in the war-torn country through supporting the peace process spearhead by the UN and according to the three references. Prime Minister Moeen Abdulmalik said Yemen and the US enjoy a partnership and alliance in various political, economic and military fields, as well as in combating terrorism. He also lauded Washington’s support of Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability. He made his remarks during a ceremony held in Riyadh by the newly appointed US Ambassador to Yemen, Christopher Henzel.

Yemen Minister of Information Moamar Al-Eryani calls for the Houthis to be held accountable for their use of landmines

The Houthi use of landmines is a clear, undeniable violation of international humanitarian law, but so far no one is holding them accountable for this war crime, so they continue to produce and scatter landmines, 1.1 million dispersed and counting, making Yemen the most mined nation since World War II, according to data from the Saudi Project to Demine Yemen (Masam).

Houthi landmines have been found in schools and hospitals, on farmland and inside drinking wells. More than 9,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed or injured by Houthi landmines; many of these victims are children.

The Houthis say civilians are not targeted but when these landmines are reconfigured, as Project Masam says, to detonate from 10 kilograms of pressure, around 22 pounds, rather than 100 kilograms, about 220 pounds, there can only be one explanation – the Houthis are targeting civilians, including young children.

My comment: This is a piece of a somewhat more „intelligent“propaganda. But, propaganda already begins at the very start: Why the US (propaganda) claim should be more logical than any other claim? This i staken for granted by the author, this ist he base of his propaganda claim. Well, this is only one rationale at all, with some others more – and certainly it is NOT the most „logical“ one. – What does this mean? The author just wants to strenghthen the US official propaganda – and assist in beating the war drums.

The transfer of systems with such incalculable effects is even more stunning considering the fact that the Islamic Republic is well known for its elaborate chess moves, its careful escalation ladders, and its intricate dances around red lines. Unlike other high-risk moves by Iran, such as its recent kinetic reaction to oil sanctions, Houthi missile strikes conducted before the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) were not related to any core Iranian national or security interest. Thus, while the above explanations for the cruise missile launch might be applicable to the current situation, they do not sufficiently explain the transfer of long-range missile systems and the likely authorization of their launch in the first place. One can only speculate whether Iran’s leaders overestimated their actions’ deniability, brashly probed Saudi and Western acquiescence, or have been overwhelmed by their emotional attachment to the Yemeni cause. In any case, it remains to be seen whether Saudi and Western patience will continue to hold in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Saudi Crown Prince: We’ll keep on our support for Yemeni people to protect their independence, sovereignty

Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud said ” Saudi-led Coalition for supporting legality in Yemen has adopted clear stance in supporting efforts to reach a political solution in accordance with International Security Council resolution 2216, GCC’s Initiative, its executive mechanism and the National Dialogue’s outcomes

In fact, the number of Houthi militia’s child soldiers in Yemen is terrifying. They have recruited more than 30 thousand Yemeni children and still recruiting them, in violation to international agreements and child protection laws. The Houthi rebels recruited 5000 children in 2018 alone.

They kidnap children from their schools and homes and send them to battles, and practice pressure on their parents to send them to fronts, in a stark challenge to international laws related to child protection.

Meanwhile, the Houthi militia’s war and coup has forced more than two million child into labor markets.

My comment: This sounds like propaganda, at least as far as the claimed „Iranian experts“ are concerned.

(A P)

US Seminar: Houthis’ planting of mines is a systematic policy

International experts have confirmed that Houthi militias’ planting of mines is not a self-defensive move but a systematic policy.

They said the militias’ policy aims at targeting innocent people and inflicting the greatest number of casualties, regardless of the fact that these mines are internationally banned.

The experts’ statements came during a discussion held mid-week at the headquarters of the US Congress to highlight the crimes carried out by the militias indiscriminately and subversively to spread terror and punish people in areas from which their elements are expelled.

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

a number of Houthi militants were killed and injured and several of their combat vehicles were destroyed after the Arab coalition launched airstrikes on the militia’s gatherings at Wadi Al-Thalath, Bani Hassan region, in the Abbs district of Hajjah province

Between June 5-16, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) reported seven drone attacks and one cruise missile strike on its territory. The United States also confirmed Houthi militants had intercepted an MQ-9 Reaper UAV flying over Yemen. Below is a summary of these reported events.

Sare’e: Aggression Airports to Be Subjected to Constant Targeting by Yemeni Drones

General Sare'e said today the airports of Abha, Jizan and Najran have become insecure airports and that they will be subjected to constant targeting as a result of the continued brutal aggression and unjust siege on the Yemeni People.

Spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces said a little while ago that Air Force is carrying out large operations towards #AbhaInternational Airport in Asir of #SaudiaArabia by drones Qasif-2K, which has hit its targets accurately and has disrupted air navigation at the airport. Details of the operations will be announced in the coming hours.

cp19a USA bereitet Krieg gegen Iran vor / The US is preparing war against Iran

(** A K P)

US Planning ’Tactical Assault’ on Iran Nuclear Site to Reciprocate ’Tanker Attack’

UN sources reveal that the United States is planning to carry out a “tactical assault” on an Iranian nuclear facility in response to recent attacks on two tankers in the Sea of Oman, which Washington and some of its allies blamed on Tehran without providing any credible evidence.

Diplomatic sources at the United Nations headquarters in New York told the Hebrew-language Israeli newspaper Maariv that they are weighing the United States’ plans to conduct the assault.

According to the officials, the White House has been holding incessant discussions involving senior military commanders, Pentagon representatives and advisers to US President Donald Trump since Friday, the Jerusalem Post reported.

It quoted the officials as saying that the US military action would probably include an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program.

“The bombing will be massive but will be limited to a specific target,” a Western diplomat said.

According to the sources, Trump himself was not enthusiastic about a military strike against Iran, but had lost his patience on the issue and yielded to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s pressure, who has been pushing for a military attack.

#Saudi Monarchy mouthpiece & famous grandson of Wahhabi founder says that @realDonaldTrump will strike #Iran & suspend all civilian airliners from over the Gulf. #Saudis acting as they are running #US forces

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry details how it recently delivered an unprecedented destructive blow to an integrated network of operatives serving the US spy agency via the Internet.

The operation saw Iranian intelligence experts infiltrating the channels used by the CIA across the Internet for safe communication with its spies, the official noted, adding that the agency would use the cover of apparently-irrelevant websites in order to enable the communication.

The intelligence command enabled the Ministry to identify all the websites and the agents linked to them, according to the official.

Perhaps, like me, you have trouble keeping track of who's who in this fractious region.

Wait, Free Press readers! Hang with me here. For my purpose today is to conduct neither a crash course in the geopolitics of the Middle East nor a survey of America's strategic interests in the region.

My purpose, instead, is to nudge you to start thinking about the unthinkable — a shooting war with Iran, a war in which old men in Washington dispatch young people from Michigan and Indiana and Ohio to shed blood for reasons everyone involved finds difficult to articulate.

And while you're at it, I want you to think about the dangers of charging, tip-toeing or stumbling into such a conflict under the leadership of a commander-in-chief a majority of Americans suspect may be a lying narcissist, and who has demonstrated a willingness to subordinate his country's interests to his own.

But now the president who just weeks ago accused the intelligence community of conspiring in an unsuccessful coup against his presidency is citing the same agencies as authority for his own assertions that Iran is responsible for attacks that crippled two oil tankers in waters south of the Strait of Hormuz ("What is 'the Gulf of Oman' Alex?") this past week.

This is precisely the sort of hiccup (Google "assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand" or "Gulf of Tonkin incident") that presaged some truly memorable 20th Century bloodbaths. So the president's un-nuanced accusations ("Iran did do it") and threats ("If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran") have rattled even a global audience grown accustomed to Trumpian bluster.

The Iran debate in Washington is increasingly divorced from reality – and that should worry us

The Trump administration is caught in a fever dream about Iran, and the fever is becoming dangerous.

In the wake of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman – which the US blames on Iran, though questions remain about the attack – the discourse on Iran being pushed by the administration and others is reaching fever pitch. Senator Tom Cotton has called for a “retaliatory military strike”. The New York Timescolumnist Bret Stephens says the US should threaten to sink Iran’s navy.

This, of course, is not surprising to anyone who has watched the Iran debate in Washington. It’s divorced from reality.

The fever dream convinces policymakers to cozy up to regimes from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates that are themselves awful. It rationalizes support for a devastating war in Yemen. It causes the state department to fund, until recently, a group that attacked journalists and experts for not being anti-Iran. Locked in the fever dream’s grips for years, John Bolton in 2015 called for bombing Iran.

All of this is in lieu of a realistic set of goals or a strategy for actually achieving them. It’s a fever dream, and only those with the fever seem to be able to make sense of the dream – by Michael H. Fuchs

Film, Transcript: Pelosi: What Is Trump's Motivation For Provoking Iran?

During a sitdown at the Council on Foreign Relations that aired Sunday on CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that Americans have "no appetite" for conflict with Iran and wondered why President Trump is being "provocative with the Iranians."

"He comes in and undoes [the nuclear deal] and inflames the U.S.-Iran issue. Why?" she wondered. "What is the purpose? I'm not going to accuse anybody of instigating anything, but for not having a policy that would smooth the waters so to speak."

"I think he probably knows there's no appetite for war among the American people."

Killing the messenger: Trump administration v. the intelligence community

Thursday, June 13, Secretary of State Pompeo took to the podium at the State Department to denounce Iran as the perpetrator of the attack on two oil tankers that morning in the Gulf of Oman.

This cavalier attitude towards facts and the disrespect this administration has demonstrated towards the U.S. intelligence establishment diminishes the credibility of the U.S government as a whole and demoralizes the intelligence analysts whose job it is to determine the perpetrators of such acts of terrorism.

The current administration’s attempts to discredit the intelligence community (IC) started during the 2016 presidential campaign

Pompeo’s blaming Iran for the latest attack on shipping a few hours after the attack seemed hasty and, in line with John Bolton’s earlier accusation of Iran for the attack on the four ships off of Fujairah, contrasted with U.S. allies’ calls for a more thorough analysis and for cooler heads to prevail – by Nabeel A. Khoury

The story of the crew of the Japanese ship Kokuka Courageous contradicts the version of events provided by Washington

The Japanese government has asked the US for concrete evidence to support the charges against Tehran for the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, on which Tokyo has not yet pronounced. The Japanese government remains unconvinced and believes that US explanations have not helped “go beyond speculation,” government sources quoted by the Kyodo news agency revealed.

U.S. mainstream media fails to challenge Trump administration’s push toward war with Iran

The risky U.S. moves to provoke a war with Iran continue, and the American mainstream media is still transmitting the Trump administration’s views almost without challenge:

* The New York Times has run lengthy accounts about the alleged Iranian attack on oil tankers, but the paper buried the skepticism about the U.S. version lower in its articles.

* A respected Israeli expert, writing in Haaretz, calmly explained why “Iran is the immediate, but unlikely suspect” in the attacks. Nothing like his point of view has gotten prominent play in America.

* The most influential foreign affairs columnist in the world, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, is still missing in action, a good 6 weeks after the Trump administration launched its latest effort to provoke Iran.

* None of the mainstream coverage explains that Israel is a big factor instigating the rising American hostility to Iran.

The lead front-page New York Times report on Saturday is one sign of the bias. Paragraph after paragraph reported the U.S. version of the June 13 attack on 2 oil tankers, citing “officials,” “President Trump,” “a senior official,” and “a grainy black-and-white American military video.”

Only when readers got to paragraphs 8 and 9 did we learn:

“others said the (video) footage fell short of proving Iran’s culpability” – by James North

Think US Media Won't Help Lead Nation Into War With Iran Based on Flimsy or False Intelligence? Looks Like They Already Are

"Do U.S. reporters, anchors, and editors really want more Middle Eastern blood on their hands? If not, they need to fix their rather credulous and increasingly hawkish coverage of Iran—and fix it fast."

If there were any lingering hopes that the corporate media learned from its role in perpetuating the lies that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and would never again help start a Middle East war on the basis of false or flimsy evidence, the headlines that blared across the front pages of major U.S. news websites Thursday night indicated that such hopes were badly misplaced.

The U.S. military late Thursday released blurry, black-and-white video footage that it claimed—without any underlying analysis or further details—showed an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded limpet mine from the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, one of the oil tankers damaged in attacks in the Gulf of Oman.

In a blog post on Friday, historian and Middle East expert Juan Cole wrote that the Trump administration's narrative that Iranians were removing an unexploded mine from the damaged oil tanker "doesn't make any sense at all" and said the video footage released by the U.S. "needs to be carefully analyzed" before any conclusions are drawn (images, links)

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States may have carried out acts of sabotage against two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman to blame them on Iran and pressure Tehran.

Speaking at a parliamentary session on Sunday, Larijani referred to the US record in carrying out false flag operations and said the Thursday fires that erupted on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman may have been similar incidents.

As always, the US made claims. This time, the US Navy claimed to have seen an unexploded mine on one of the two ships. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US officials immediately blamed Iran.

The big questions are, as always, motive. Iran has no conceivable reason to attack such ships

Then again, the fact that the White House still blamed Iran should not be a surprise to anyone. The move was very much predictable. In an effort to boost Iranophobic discourse, the US believes that they can justify their campaign of pressure against Iran by blaming everything in the Middle East on Tehran without nuance or thought.

The constant US-led militarism within the region and also its unrelenting support of all things Israel and Saudi is the primary cause of instability, ideological upheaval and political uncertainty within the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. The easy and cynical scapegoating of Iran is silly, as it is built upon a rotten foundation which amounts to not only a total incomprehension of Washington's impact in the region but an outright denial of history itself.

'Deja Vu' of Iraq War Lies as Mike Pompeo Blames Iran for Tanker Attack Without Single Shred of Evidence

"Secretary Pompeo gives zero proof but insists that Iran is responsible for ship attacks in Gulf of Oman. Lies, lies, and more lies to make a case for war."

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of anti-war group CodePink, characterized Pompeo's speech as a "deja vu" of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's infamous weapons of mass destruction speech before the U.N. in 2003, which made the case for the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.

"Secretary Pompeo gives zero proof but insists that Iran is responsible for ship attacks in Gulf of Oman this morning," Benjamin tweeted. "Lies, lies, and more lies to make a case for war. Let's not be fooled into another disastrous war!"

I Don't Trust This Administration* With a Lemon Zester, Let Alone a War With Iran

Mike Pompeo is fighting way above his weight class.

I am not buying this in the least. I remember the Iraq lies. I know this administration is truthless from top to bottom and all the way out both sides. I don't trust the Saudi government as far as I can throw a bone saw. And this president* feels very much like he's being run to ground at the moment and needs a distraction. And his Secretary of State is a third-rate congresscritter from Kansas who once advised American soldiers to disobey lawful orders, and who's fighting way above his weight class. Also, too, John Bolton is eight kinds of maniac.

My comment: Pompeo’s story, with another headline, again. – The US endangers free oil trade by it’s sanctions against Iran and Venezuela; and, obviously, “To Guarantee Passage Through Strait of Hormuz”, is not up to the US more than 7,000 miles away.

(A K P)

U.S. blames Iran for helping Houthi rebels shoot down drone in Yemen

Houthi rebels in Yemen recently shot down a U.S. government-operated drone with assistance from Iran, the U.S. military said in a statement on Sunday.

Statement from US Central Command on attacks against U.S. observation aircraft

A U.S. MQ-9 was shot down over Yemen by what we assess to be a Houthi SA-6 surface to air missile on Jun 6, 2019. The altitude of the engagement indicated an improvement over previous Houthi capability, which we assess was enabled by Iranian assistance.

On June 13, 2019, according to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9 over the Gulf of Oman to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous. The MQ-9 had arrived minutes earlier at 6:20 a.m. local time at the motor tanker (M/T) Altair and had observed the ship on fire.

The SA-7 was ineffective and its closest point of approach to the MQ-9 was approximately one kilometer

The head of the National Delegation, Mohamed Abdulsalam, said Sunday evening that "the US military admitting the downing of the reconnaissance drone, downed in the West Coast, proves that the aggression carries an US-Zionist agenda.

UK Government statement following the attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

It is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military - the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - attacked the two tankers on 13 June. No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible.

There is recent precedent for attacks by Iran against oil tankers. The Emirati-led investigation of the 12 May attack on four oil tankers near the port of Fujairah concluded that it was conducted by a sophisticated state actor. We are confident that Iran bears responsibility for that attack.

My comment: The UK playing the same role again as in the 2003 Iraq War? – A propaganda circular argument: The May 12 incident still cannot be ascribed to any actor, nor Iran or anyone else. The rest is propaganda and beating the war drums.

Comment: UK seeks diplomatic solution (Er, didn't we have one in the scuppered Iran deal?)

If Iran wants to block Persian Gulf oil exports, it will do it publicly: Military chief

Iran's military chief says if the Islamic Republic decided to stop oil flow from the Persian Gulf, it will do it publicly and there will be nothing covert about it.

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri made the remarks during a military ceremony in Tehran on Monday, in reaction to charges leveled against Iran by the United States and some of its allies accusing Tehran of being behind recent attacks on two tanker ships in the Sea of Oman and a previous attack on several commercial vessels off the coast of the Emirati port city of Fujairah.

The leader of Britain’s opposition has said there is no “credible evidence” that Iran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers on Friday, urging the government to refrain from escalating tensions in the region

Iran accused its main regional rival Saudi Arabia on Monday of adopting a “militaristic, crisis-based approach” after Riyadh said Tehran was behind last week’s attack on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf.